


Better than Words (we can make it, you know)

by annanotesxo



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Actor Louis, Alternate Universe - High School, Dancer Louis, Fluff, M/M, Shy Harry, Singer Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-03 06:42:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6600826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annanotesxo/pseuds/annanotesxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is an exchange student and Louis, silly boy that he is, thinks that he can't speak english and tries to explain things to him with a lot of hand gestures and dances. Harry keeps going with the misunderstanding because he thinks Louis is cute and just wants him to keep talking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better than Words (we can make it, you know)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [justgotowisharder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justgotowisharder/gifts).



> Major apologies to the person who requested this, I didn’t read the “college/university au” tag and wrote a high school au instead :o Hope you still enjoy it! I put a bit of a different spin on it, I think.
> 
> Disclaimer: all my knowledge of american high schools comes from the movies, so bare with me. Also, I wanted to use a mix of American and British spelling and words, but I’m worried I might have just made a mess haha.
> 
> Also, surprise Oliviana side-ship! Back when MITAM first came out and people started jokingly shipping Olivia and Diana, saying the End of the Day was about them, I thought it was the most brilliant thing in the world. Like, what fandom would ever think of shipping two songs together? Anyway, I felt the need to write about them, but never had the time and then the hype sort of died down, so I decided to stick them in here! :)
> 
> Hope you all enjoy! :)

There were few things that Louis genuinely liked about his school. The first one was their large theatre hall with an actual stage with high-tech, working spotlights, second was their equally high-quality dance studio with full-wall mirrors and a ballet barre, and the third thing was that each semester their school welcomed a few sophomores and juniors from all around the world as part of their short-term international exchange programs. It made the place that tiny bit less boring. 

 

He may have also had this secret fantasy that some hot boy with an equally hot accent would appear and they would be swept away into a passionate romance, which would be both wonderful and tragic, as their love could only last for that couple of months that they had together, before the boy had to return to his home country. Yeah, he absolutely loved this hopeless lovers trope and was a sucker for melodrama — as could be expected from a theatre kid.

 

No luck so far, though. _And_ he was sort of running out of time, this being his senior year and all. 

 

Still, he remained hopeful, and walked into his school with an extra bounce in his step. 

 

***

 

‘Liam!’ Louis yelled as he jumped on his friend’s back, wrapping himself around his broad shoulders. He was lucky that Liam was a fairly athletic, well-built guy and didn’t drop him instantly. Instead, he staggered a bit, letting out a displeased grunt. ‘I missed you so much, my favourite lima bean!’

 

‘Get off me, I know what you’re after, so you don’t have to put on this affectionate friend act or whatever this is.’ Liam said, ignoring Louis’ giggles and trying to wiggle himself out of the shorter boy’s grip. But Louis held on tight.

 

‘Oh, come on, grumpy-pants! You love me really.’ he said with a grin, nuzzling into Liam’s neck.

 

‘ _Please,_ Louis, I’ve got a lesson to get to, so let’s just get to the point, yeah?’ Liam snapped, although there wasn’t really any weight behind it. He may have been making it out like he hated Louis’ silliness, but there was a reason why they had been friends since the first day of freshman year. They kept each other balanced. On one side was Liam with his brains and great organisation skills and involvement in school activities, and on the other was Louis, a ball of energy who was constantly either joking or acting or dancing or trying out new moves for cheer practice — yes, he was on the cheerleading squad and no, no one gave him shit for it, partly because of his Herculean best friend always looking out for him and partly because it’s 2016 dammit, who cares?

 

‘Okay,’ Louis sighed, jumping off Liam’s back. Liam turned around to face him just as Louis asked, ‘So, who’ve we got? _Please_ , tell me there’s a hot guy somewhere in there.’

 

Liam had been involved in the exchange program for two years now and, among other things, was part of the welcoming committee, meaning that he was one of the first people to come into contact with the visiting students. Basically, he was the absolute best source of gossip about the new arrivals and, therefore, very useful for Louis.

 

‘Well, I think there’s this one guy you’d like.’ Liam shrugged.

 

‘Oh, _come on_. Give me more.’ Louis said with urgency. Could this be his year?

 

‘Well, he’s got, like, massive curly hair, and, um, a smile—‘ Liam said, scrunching up his eyebrows, ‘I don’t know what to say, really.’

 

‘Jesus, that was the least helpful description ever.’ Louis rolled his eyes dramatically, crossing his arms in front of his chest, one hip popping out. ‘Come on, I know you can do better.’

 

‘I don’t know!’ Liam snapped, throwing his arms out despairingly, ‘He seems nice, I guess. What do I know about guys?’

 

‘Oh god, please don’t hit me with that “I can’t tell if a guy is attractive no homo” bullshit.’ he scoffed, shaking his head, ‘I _need_ more detail.’

 

‘Okay, geez,’ Liam sighed, ‘He’s got this cute thing about him, I guess. Big brown curls. Green eyes. Dimples—‘

 

‘Hmmm, dimples.’ Louis repeated absentmindedly, nodding along to Liam’s words.

 

‘Yeah, dimples. But he seems pretty shy, he hardly said anything.’

 

‘Okay,’ Louis nodded, thinking it over, then looked into Liam’s eyes with an unsure expression, ‘and do you think he’s—‘

 

‘Gay? I don’t know. Maybe. As I said, he was pretty quiet, so I can’t really tell you much more about him. All I know is his name, really.’ Liam said, looking slightly disappointed. He liked having all the answers.

 

‘Oh yeah? What is it?’ Louis asked, smiling eagerly.

 

‘Harry.’

 

‘Harry?’ he frowned, confused, ‘that doesn’t sound very foreign.’

 

Liam just shrugged in response. Again, he had no answers.

 

‘But you think there’s hope?’ Louis pressed on.

 

‘Yeah, I guess.’ Liam sighed the words out.

 

‘Brilliant.’ Louis grinned, then gave Liam a quick, tight hug, ‘I’ve missed you lima bean. You’re always so good to me.’

 

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Liam waved him off, ‘we better hurry up or we’ll be late.’

 

‘Yes, boss.’ Louis said with pretend seriousness, sending a salute in Liam’s direction.

 

‘You’re such a dork.’ Liam laughed, walking away.

 

This day was off to a good start.

 

 

***

 

Louis didn’t waste any time during lunch hour. He walked briskly down the school hallways, with excitement growing with every step. At the start of the exchange, all the visiting students tended to huddle together in the cafeteria during lunch, along with a couple home students acting as “tour guides”. So, he figured this Harry boy wouldn’t be too difficult to find.

 

Confident in his assumption, he walked into the cafeteria, heading straight for the food counter and grabbing himself one of the pre-packaged Caesar salads and a bottle of orange juice. He scanned the cafeteria with his eyes once he had paid, noticing a group of students occupying a large table. You could spot them right away, looking around with either interest or slight anxiousness, or both. Problem was, none of them were a boy with massive curly hair.

 

Louis frowned. Damn it.

 

Where could someone new to the school, and to America, go on their first day? Maybe he was just exploring the school or something. Or got lost. 

 

He looked outside through the large windows of the cafeteria, which gave him another, more optimistic, idea. It was a nice sunny day, as they often tended to be in LA, with just the slightest brisk wind moving the tree leaves around, so it wouldn’t be unlikely for someone to venture out and eat outside, right?

 

Louis took a deep breath, gathering the positivity that he had momentarily lost, before heading for the doors leading outside. 

 

There were several places on the grounds where people tended to spend their lunchtimes. There were some outdoor tables, of course. Then there was a slight hill leading down to the carpark, where people would sit on particularly sunny days. By the football pitch, there were the bleachers behind which, in a very cliche way, people tended to go and smoke. There were also some trees where you could sit in the shade.

 

He decided to check all of them with a determined expression, but apparently, this time, luck was on his side and he saw an unfamiliar boy with a head of wild curly hair sitting on his own at one of the tables, staring at the screen of his phone.

 

Bingo.

 

Louis walked towards the boy with a spring in his step. Liam was right, the kid was definitely cute.

 

Just as he got there, Harry looked up, sensing that someone had suddenly appeared. He looked surprised.

 

‘Hey there,’ Louis grinned, speaking excitedly, ‘you’re one of the exchange students, right? That must be really exciting, coming to a new place like this. And the school is pretty decent. Good performing arts programs. Well, that’s what I like most about it. How about you? You’re Harry, right? I’m Louis.’

 

Louis tried to ignore the fact that he had just babbled on like an idiot and probably seemed a bit deranged, and tried to fix it with taking a long breath in and smiling calmly, holding out his hand for Harry to shake. Top thing on the agenda, after all, was to make the boy feel welcome at their school. If that led to a passionate, yet tragic, romance, that would just be an extra bonus.

 

‘Uhm— I— I—‘ Harry stuttered, slightly startled by the sudden attention. He cleared his throat awkwardly, before dropping his phone on the table and quickly, as if slightly panicked, taking Louis’ hand and shaking it hesitantly.

 

‘Mind if I sit?’ Louis asked, quirking his head to the side curiously, observing the boy in front of him. He was so, so pretty.

 

Harry didn’t reply, he just stared at Louis with wide, confused eyes, his mouth opening and closing, as if he was about to say something but couldn’t quite find the words.

 

After a while, Louis decided to ask again. Liam did say the boy was shy, so he didn’t mind.

 

‘Do you mind if I sit here?’ he repeated with a warm, understanding tone.

 

‘Uhm,’ Harry said, chewing his lip slightly.

 

Geez. The guy really _was_ one of them quiet, shy types, Louis thought.

 

Or maybe he didn’t understand him? 

 

The idea hitting him like a brick wall. Many of the students that came to their school from abroad, came with the specific goal of learning the language and culture of the country. They had extra English lessons and everything. Sure, they were usually from places like Thailand or Indonesia, and Harry didn’t exactly _look_ like he came from one of those countries, but maybe he was in the same sort of situation as them. 

 

Harry was probably a nickname or something.

 

‘Sorry, if I’m talking too much or too fast.’ Louis quickly said, ‘It’s only your first day here. Must be confusing.’ he smiled warmly before asking, this time more slowly, ‘Is it okay if _I_ ,’ he gestured to himself, then continued, ‘sit here?’, gesturing to the seat opposite Harry as a form of clarification. 

 

He wasn’t going to be scared off by a little bit of a language barrier. In fact, that just added and extra “together against all odds” side to the narrative that he had dreamt up. Yeah, he was a sucker for a good story.

 

***

 

Harry was in the middle of writing yet another text to his mum telling her that, yes, everything was going okay and, yes, he was enjoying his first day at the school, when he noticed someone walking towards him.

 

He looked up, just as the boy stopped in front of the table that he was sat at. He looked like sunshine, Harry instantly decided. Bright and lovely and making Harry feel all warm and fuzzy inside, which he felt instantly embarrassed about, probably blushing.

 

The boy started talking with this wide, lovely smile on his face, and Harry was just massively confused. He didn’t know why he was being spoken to by some stranger who definitely wasn’t a part of the welcoming committee _or_ had any lessons with him so far. He wasn’t really approached by people often at his own school back in England, not by people he didn’t know, not so out of nowhere. 

 

Not by boys like _him_.

 

Was it just what people were like over here? Weirdly sociable and chatty?

 

He knew he probably should’ve tried to concentrate more on the words the boy was actually saying, but his attention lingered on his tanned skin. He looked from the thin collarbones, visible because of the low-cut, light blue top that the boy was wearing, to his lips, moving quickly, to his nose and his blue eyes, finishing on shiny, brown hair with a fluffy fringe. So pretty.

 

‘…Harry, right? I’m Louis.’ the boy finished talking, the words snapping Harry back to reality.

 

Wait, what? He knew his name? How?

 

In his confusion, all that Harry managed was to mumble awkwardly. How embarrassing. He wanted to run away. Far away. Back to England. He must’ve seemed like such an idiot.

 

But the other boy didn’t seem at all discouraged.

 

‘Mind if I sit?’ he said, making Harry notice just how soft and lovely his voice was. He could listen to it all day. It had that LA accent that everyone over here had, but it seemed to have something else to it too, some undertone that Harry couldn’t quite place, but was really curious about.

 

And Harry wanted to answer, he really did, wanted to yell ‘YES’, but somehow he lost all of his words. Lets face it, he was never that great at social interactions, but this was more than that, he was just so taken aback and speechless. 

 

‘Do you mind if I sit here?’ the boy asked again, even softer this time.

 

Why was this guy still talking to him?

 

‘Uhm,’ was all that Harry managed, cursing at himself for being so awful at talking to people. 

 

But apparently the guy, Louis, didn’t interpret his lack of words as Harry being completely socially inept. Apparently, he decided that the reason Harry was a mumbling, stuttering mess, was because he couldn’t understand him. Louis thought that Harry couldn’t speak english. Harry. Who was from England.

 

Shit. That was even _more_ embarrassing. But it was too late now, Harry just had to go along with it. 

 

Harry nodded in response, making Louis smile and sit down opposite him quickly. At least it made the nice, hot boy keep talking to him, right?

 

And that’s how this whole, ridiculous misunderstanding started.

 

***

 

‘I’m going to give you a tour,’ Louis said the next day at lunch. He sounded very decisive. They had met in the same exact spot as the day before, without actually ever making plans to. It just seemed natural to do so. It went unspoken. 

 

Harry just quirked his head in question, instead of answering. That was his trick, avoiding saying anything, so that Louis would just keep talking. And, truthfully, it wasn’t just because he was playing along with this “don’t understand english” thing, he actually really liked it that way, because there was less of a chance of him saying something to embarrass himself. Also, he just liked to listen to Louis. He was funny and silly and that first impression that he had of him, of him being as bright as the sun, was definitely proving to be true.

 

‘Yeah, lets go!’ Louis continued, standing up and gesturing for Harry to do the same. ‘Come on, come on.’

 

Harry ignored the fact that both of them knew that he had already gotten a tour of the school the day before, and got up quickly, following Louis’ lead.

 

They walked through the halls, passing the science classrooms, english classrooms, maths—

 

‘…And, here we have— ew— math.’ Louis scrunched up his face as they passed the classroom, before exclaiming, ‘boring!’ 

 

He stopped there, miming falling asleep, shoulders dropping and head falling to the side. He let out a couple of quiet, fake snores before pretending to jolt awake with a little snort. ‘Where were we?’ he asked, acting like someone confused and sleepy, before exclaiming, ‘Oh yeah! Math sucks.’

 

Harry couldn’t stop giggling, trying to hide his grin behind his hand, slightly embarrassed. He hadn’t laughed as much as he had around Louis in a _very_ long time, and with every passing second he felt more and more comfortable in his company.

 

Everything about Louis was fun and exaggerated in the best way, exciting. Louis talked a lot, Harry quickly found out. He talked and talked, trying to mime along to what he was saying to make sure that Harry understood everything.

 

‘Oh boy,’ Louis sighed at one point, ‘I’m gonna be so badass at charades after all of this.’

 

They walked slowly for a while longer, Louis taking Harry to his locker and Harry doing the same, before Louis turned to Harry with a mischievous smile.

 

‘Want to see my absolute favorite part?’ he asked, but before Harry had the chance to respond, he wrapped his hand around Harry’s wrist and started running. 

 

Harry let out a surprised squeak, before letting himself be dragged away by a laughing Louis. 

 

Louis stopped just as abruptly as he started running, causing Harry to bump into him with a quiet grunt. 

 

‘Sorry,’ they both said at the same time, and it must’ve been the first word that Harry had said to Louis that day. They smiled at each other for a moment, just watching each other silently, before Louis turned to speak again.

 

‘This,’ Louis tapped on the large doors that Harry knew lead to the school’s auditorium, ‘this is my favorite place.’

 

Harry nodded in response, smiling fondly. It was hard not to, Louis just had that effect on him. And he wanted to know more.

 

Louis pushed the door open slowly, letting Harry walk inside first.

 

School auditorium really didn’t do the place justice though, Harry thought. Definitely better than any assembly hall he’d ever been to back at home. It was more like an actual Broadway theatre hall, really. It was massive, with rows of genuinely comfortable chairs facing the stage in large semicircles. There was even enough space for a band in front of the stage, which was large and equally impressive. The lighting and sound systems were also top quality, apparently. 

 

At least that’s what he’d been told the day before during his actual tour of the school. He found out that an alumni of the school, some actor that he had never heard of, donated a fuck load of money to the performing arts department of the school. 

 

Looking around the empty auditorium, Harry could definitely see how this could be someone’s favourite place to be.

 

As he was taking the place in, Louis jogged down to the stage and climbed onto it with ease, ignoring the steps on the side. 

 

‘Welcome to my home!’ he shouted with a grin, arms spread wide, gesturing to the entire place. 

 

Harry made his way down to him slowly, definitely noticing how much Louis belonged over there. He could just imagine him there, in the spotlights, in front of a crowd of people. No wonder he was so expressive and theatrical — this was his _thing_. This was what he loved. 

 

It made Harry all warm inside, seeing someone so excited about something, especially Louis.

 

‘Yeah, I’m a total drama geek,’ Louis chuckled, seeing Harry’s amused face, ‘some people think it’s stupid, but musicals are genuinely the biggest love of my life.’

 

Harry was absolutely endeared. A part of him really wanted to pull Louis closer and say ‘no, it’s not stupid. It’s amazing. You’re amazing.’ But another part was absolutely terrified by the thought, made him nervous. He absolutely could not actually do that. He didn’t even know the boy, but he couldn’t decline the fact that he was completely falling for him. Hopelessly. No one ever had such a quick effect on him and that scared him a bit.

 

So, for now, he was just going to pretend that he didn’t have ridiculous butterflies wrecking havoc in his stomach, just as he was pretending not to understand english.

 

‘But enough of that. There’s another place I need to show you and we’re running out of time.’ Louis said, looking down at his phone to check when lunch hour was over. He started to walk briskly, ushering Harry to do the same, a bounce in his step. Harry followed him, barely keeping up. 

 

They stopped in front of the dance studio, Louis giving Harry a little introduction to it, just as he had with the other places.

 

‘This is the dance studio,’ Louis said, gesturing to the door, ‘the other place where I spend a hell lot of time.’

 

‘You dance?’ Harry asked, raising his eyebrows curiously. 

 

‘Yeah,’ Louis smiled widely, apparently really happy that Harry managed to say something to him.

 

He moved a step away, dropping his bag on the floor and proceeding to do a fancy jump — well, at least Harry thought it was fancy — and a pirouette. When he was done, he did a little bow and Harry clapped his hands eagerly, humouring him.

 

Louis laughed.

 

‘Yeah, I like dance,’ he said, pointing to himself, then putting to thumbs up, ‘but not as much as acting and singing, I _love_ those.’ he added, placing both of his hands on his heart and sighing dramatically, as if in awe.

 

‘I think someone might be inside though,’ he said, a bit less excitedly, walking closer to the door and peeking through the small window. He deflated a bit, ’Yeah, Dee Dee is in there. Better not interrupt her.’

 

Harry looked at him questioningly.

 

‘Dee Dee is my friend. She takes ballet _very_ seriously. Like, crazy seriously, so she’s always here, doing extra practice,’ he explained, but then stopped, clearly trying to think how to show that to Harry with his great miming skills. So, what he did, was point to the window, then said ‘this girl, her name is Diana, but we call her Dee Dee. She loves ballet,’ he did the same motion as he did showing how much he loved acting, then did another pirouette. 

 

Harry nodded quickly, showing that he understood.

 

‘She is very good, like _wow_ ,’ he said, exaggerating his facial expressions to stress his words, ‘she is usually my dance partner, because I’m the closest to her skill level, you see.’ he bit down on his lip slightly, thinking. ‘ _She_ ’ he pointed to the window, ‘and _I_ ’ he pointed to himself, ‘dance together. I am okay at dancing,’ he said, doing the fifty/fifty hand gesture, ‘but _she_ , she is amazing,’ he said, putting both of his thumbs up, and nodding eagerly.

 

‘Okay,’ Harry said. He decided that short, one word answers were also fine.

 

‘We’re rehearsing for this performance for some elementary school kids. We’re doing a dance duet, where I’m playing Peter Pan and she’s playing Tinker Bell. Like, it’s not a play, just a dance performance. A mix of ballet and contemporary. We’re getting these cute costumes made. It’s so much fun.’ Louis said, smiling, clearly very happy about it.

 

Harry couldn’t help thinking how absolutely perfect Louis would be as Peter Pan. So funny and mischievous, that cheeky glint in his eye. Absolutely wonderful.

 

‘Look, this is a part of it,’ Louis said, moving out of the way, so that Harry could get a better look inside. 

 

Inside was a petite girl, with blonde hair tied up in a tight bun, frowning slightly in concentration. She must’ve been working on some footwork, doing quick little steps and small jumps. She looked so consumed by it, that Harry almost felt bad for watching, as if he was invading something.

 

It was all so fascinating.

 

They stood there for a while, until the bell finally sounded.

 

‘Oh, damn,’ Louis said, shoulders falling disappointedly, ‘better get a move on, right? I’m going in here next,’ he pointed to the door in front of them, ‘but I could walk you to class, if you want?’

 

Harry wouldn’t mind spending that tiny bit more time with Louis, but he didn’t want to keep him from his work, especially since that work probably involved dancing in tight clothing. 

 

So, he shook his head, aiming for a silent “no thanks, it’s okay.”

 

‘Okay then,’ Louis nodded slowly, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?’

 

Harry nodded quickly, perhaps a little too eagerly, but he couldn’t help it. Louis wanted to hang out with him _again_. 

 

‘Awesome,’ Louis smiled warmly, then put a hand on Harry’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly, affectionately, ‘bye, Harry.’

 

‘Bye Louis,’ Harry replied, slightly breathlessly.

 

This student exchange thing really wasn’t so scary after all.

 

***

 

The rest of the week continued in much the same manner, the two of them meeting every lunch time, Louis talking a lot and Harry responding with either facial expressions or short one word answers. They were both surprised with just how much you could say with just the tone of voice or facial expressions and, by the end of the week, Harry felt so comfortable around Louis that they could probably have whole silent conversations with no need for words. Except, Louis loved talking, so that chances of that happening were very unlikely.

 

With every day, Harry felt himself falling deeper and deeper for the guy and, even though it scared him a bit, he loved every little bit of it.

 

There was just this little thing in the back of his mind that worried him, though. All of this, their friendship, was based around the fact that Louis thought that Harry couldn’t speak english — a lie — and the truth was bound to come out sooner or later and it really worried Harry. What if Louis got an angry? Like, really, really mad and stopped talking to him? What if he hated him?

 

Shit.

 

He decided to shake the thought and concentrate on the present. He really liked what was happening in the present.

 

***

 

Of course, by Saturday afternoon, Harry had already started missing Louis and spending time with him. That was the thing about Harry, he got used to things quickly. So, he decided to spend his afternoon looking up some of the stuff that Louis said he liked on the internet to understand him and his love for musical theatre better. He wanted to get to know _him_ better.

 

First thing on the agenda was watching ‘Grease’. He had seen it before, as a kid, but knowing that not only was it Louis’ favourite film, but Louis himself had actually played the role of Danny in a school production, made it so much more significant. He _studied_ the film more than he watched it, really.

 

There was more to it than just watching Louis’ favourite film though — it was something Louis had said about playing the character that really stuck with Harry and was on his mind constantly as he stared at his laptop screen. Louis had said that he was worried about playing Danny, because he wasn’t sure if he could act like he was in love with a girl, wasn’t sure if he could pull it off, since it wasn’t exactly his cup of tea. By “it” he of course meant girls, even though he hadn’t outright said it. It wasn’t at all subtle though. Louis wanted for Harry to know he was gay and that _must have_ meant something, right?

 

Right?

 

***

 

Louis felt a similar sort of feeling as Harry by the time Saturday afternoon came around. He was sat there, surrounded by his friends, but his mind still wandered back to the boy. 

 

There were five of them spread around Dee Dee’s living room, either on sofas or the floor. They were meant to be brainstorming about the next school production, but, as was evident by the many glaringly empty pieces of paper scattered around them, it wasn’t really going all that well.

 

‘We missed you at lunch this week,’ Dee Dee said during one of those moments when Louis would drift off and start thinking about the next time he would see Harry, but her words snapped him back to reality, causing an embarrassed blush to spread over his face.

 

Dee Dee had this mischievous smirk on and Liam, sitting across the room from her, chuckled at the comment.

 

‘I’m surprised that you’re not glued to your phone right now, actually.’ Liam commented, shooting Louis an amused look. For a moment, Louis regretted asking him to come, but, as the senior vice president and boyfriend of Sophia, who was in charge of all costume and props design, it seemed like his presence was going to be helpful.

 

‘Ooh, sounds like there’s some gossip,’ Sophia said excitedly, turning to Louis and lifting her eyebrows expectantly. ‘You better start talking, Tomlinson.’

 

‘He finally found his hottie exchange student,’ Olivia said, rolling her eyes. Of course she knew. She knew everything, because Dee Dee was her girlfriend and told her everything. Always. Generally, Louis was really in awe of their relationship, how close and comfortable around each other they were, but he sort of hated it right now, when his personal life was the topic of conversation. 

 

‘No way!’ Sophia almost cheered, ‘what’s he like?’ 

 

‘Yeah, what’s he like, Louis?’ Dee Dee repeated sarcastically, playfully mocking him, ‘Is he as hot and exotic as you’ve dreamed up? Have you two been swept into a passionate, yet tragic, romance yet?’

 

‘Well, obviously not, since he clearly doesn’t even have his number.’ Olivia answered her. 

 

Louis frowned. For some reason he was offended, as if they were questioning his ability to pull. He can get a guy’s number if he wants it. But it was different with Harry somehow. 

 

Well, he obviously _had_ thought of asking Harry for his number, but if he had it, what would they do? They couldn’t really text or call each other, since Harry’s English wasn’t too great. The best thing, really, would be to actually ask him to hang out with him outside of school, but he somehow hadn’t gotten round to that yet either. 

 

‘How do you know that?’ he asked, his slight annoyance showing in his tone.

 

‘Because you’re not glued to your phone right now,’ Liam explained with his earlier words, ‘if you had his number, we wouldn’t be able to drag you away from that thing. We know how you get when you’ve got a crush on a guy.’

 

‘Yeah, that’s _way_ too true,’ Dee Dee laughed.

 

‘Oh, come on, I’m not that bad,’ Louis said, even though every single person in the room knew just how untrue that was.

 

‘Oh, yes. Yes, you are.’ Liam said in that official tone of his and Louis really could not argue with that.

 

‘Yeah, whatever,’ he scoffed instead.

 

‘So, what’s going on then?’ Sophia asked curiously.

 

‘It’s just—‘ Louis hesitated, ‘he’s lovely, he really is, but we just have some logistical issues when it comes to conversation.’

 

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, quirking her head to the side.

 

‘He doesn’t really talk much.’ Liam chipped in, instead of letting Louis explain himself, ‘seemed very shy when I met him on the first day.’

 

‘Oh, so you’re just taking it slow?’ 

 

Louis nodded, knowing that that would be the quickest way to change the subject, even though it wasn’t the complete truth.

 

‘Yeah, that’s it. I’m just trying to get to know him for now.’

 

‘Okay,’ Sophia nodded, smiling widely, clearly satisfied with the answer. ‘Just bring him round to meet us at lunch sometime soon, instead of just hiding away.’

 

‘He’s not “hiding away”’ Dee Dee said, air-quoting the words, ‘he just wants the boy all to himself.’

 

Louis thought about that for a moment.

 

‘Not gonna lie, that is a bit true,’ he said, his honesty making everyone, including himself, laugh.

 

‘But, at least let us meet him if it does go somewhere, okay?’ Sophia said insistently. 

 

‘Yeah, yeah, okay.’ Louis said, rolling his eyes, ‘you’re making way too much of a deal about all of it, you know that?’

 

‘Yeah, don’t you have a musical to organise or something?’ Olivia chipped in. Easy of her to say, since she, out of all of them, was the only one there who was not in any way involved in the task at hand. She was only there because of Dee Dee, really, which meant that she could just hang out, instead of actually needing to get work done. Oh, how Louis envied her.

 

***

 

Harry decided to spend his Sunday working on homework that had piled up over the week and doing some extra reading for his subjects to play it safe, not sure about how much effort he was actually expected to be putting into his work over here or how strict his new teachers were yet. 

 

At least that’s what he was intending to do when he opened up his laptop that afternoon, but when he went on the school’s website to check something, he found himself distracted. He found that the school had a whole archive of videos with highlights from matches, school assemblies, award ceremonies and, yes, school theatre productions. Naturally, he couldn’t help himself and started looking through them, searching for Louis’ familiar face.

 

He didn’t have to look long, it seemed like Louis was in just about every show that the school had put on and Harry couldn’t help watching video after video. He managed to go two years back, watching a group dance number, when Kendall, the older daughter of his host family, barged into the room — well, she might have knocked first, but did’t actually wait for an answer, so it was pretty much the same thing.

 

‘Hey little tadpole, what you up to?’ she said, walking towards him and already looking over his shoulder to see the screen.

 

‘Um,’ Harry felt suddenly trapped. Kendall was great, but she sure liked to hover and poke her nose into Harry’s business. Boundaries weren’t exactly her thing. From the very second that he had arrived at the house, she proclaimed him to be her British bestie, which, to Harry’s dismay, included having to spend loads of time together and _share_ stuff, and apparently he had no say in that. ‘Just watching some videos of old shows.’

 

Harry avoided her gaze, still following Louis’ figure on the screen with his eyes.

 

Apparently, Kendall picked up on that, because the next thing she asked was, ‘do you have an eye on anyone in particular?’

 

‘Um,’ Harry cleared his throat awkwardly, but decided to just be honest and slowly lifted his finger to the screen, pointing at Louis, who was just throwing some girl into the air with perfect ease.

 

‘Really?’ she asked with wide, surprised eyes and an excited smile, clearly happy to have learnt this new piece of information about her British bestie, ‘you never told me you were into guys.’

 

‘I’m telling you now,’ Harry shrugged, blushing. He didn’t want her to judge him or make a big deal out of it, but he also didn’t want to make it seem like he was hiding something from Kendall, because, pushy as she was, he did actually like her.

 

‘I can’t believe you have a crush on Louis Tomlinson!’ she said, full of glee, as if it was the most exciting piece of information she had heard the whole year.

 

‘Do you know him?’ Harry perked up, looking up at her curiously.

 

‘Yeah, he’s in my English class,’ she nodded, ‘but even if he wasn’t, he’s sort of one of them people that everyone just _knows_ , you know? He’s in all the plays, so he knows all them theatre kids and he does cheerleading, so he knows a lot of the jocks as well—’

 

‘Wait, hold on,’ Harry interrupted. ‘Cheerleading?’

 

‘Oh yeah, didn’t you know?’ she replied casually, ‘basically, last year, our cheer team was really lacking some muscle to do all the lifts and throws, and the guy is like freakishly strong for his height. It must be all the dance stuff he does. The routines also got a lot better since he joined, because he knows so much about choreography and stuff from his dancing, you know? He’s a pretty cool guy.’

 

‘Yeah, he is,’ Harry thought out loud.

 

Kendall chuckled at his dazed expression.

 

‘Oh, you’re so cute,’ she said, giving Harry a friendly punch to the shoulder, ‘you should talk to Kylie, if you wanna know more about him. She’s on the cheer team, so she knows him quite well.’

 

Harry truly doubted that would happen though, since Kylie had said about five words to him so far and spent most of the time either staring at her phone or in her room, avoiding him. Apparently, she wasn’t very happy about having strangers living in her house and liked her privacy. So, no, he was probably not going to get much out of her, regarding Louis. 

 

‘Oh!’ Kendall exclaimed out of nowhere, startling Harry a bit, ‘there’s a lacrosse game on Tuesday and the cheer team will be there, so we could go and watch them if you want! That would be loads of fun, right? We can hang out, watch the game, talk about boys — it will be great!’

 

Harry frowned hesitantly. He wasn’t sure if crowds, sports and being interrogated about his boy crushes was his idea of a good time.

 

‘I don’t even know anything about lacrosse,’ he said instead of a ‘I don’t really want to go.’ It was true though, no one played lacrosse or cared about it in the slightest where he came from, so obviously he had no interest in it either.

 

‘Even better,’ she cheered, ‘you’re gonna be able to experience something new! Part of American culture or whatever, right? Isn’t that what you’ve come over here to do?’

 

‘I guess,’ Harry shrugged halfheartedly. 

 

‘So, you’ll go with me?’ she asked with bright, expectant eyes.

 

‘Yeah, of course,’ he nodded with a smile. It was clear that she wanted to spend time with him and he didn’t have it in him to say no to her. 

 

‘Awesome!’ she said, clasping her hands together in victory, then giggled, ‘I’ll let you continue with your ogling then.’ 

 

‘I’m not—‘ Harry started, but she was already out of the room by then.

 

***

 

The next day, Harry rushed to his, by now, usual table outside, eagerly waiting for Louis. A few minutes later, the smiling, brown-haired boy came outside of the closest doors to the school with a canteen tray. He was wearing glasses and a beanie today and Harry thought it looked absolutely adorable.

 

‘Hey,’ Louis said, laying down his tray. On it, he had a few slices of pizza, a fruit salad and a bottle of diet coke. ‘They had pizza today, so I grabbed us both some. They only have plain cheese and cheese with pepperoni though.’

 

Harry shook his head with an expression that said “no, you didn’t have to do that”, but Louis wasn’t having it.

 

‘Come on, try some.’ he said, sitting down, ‘canteen food is all part of the American school experience, after all.’

 

Harry hesitated, but nodded after a moment, accepting the offered food. He took one of the plain cheese ones and Louis smiled, clearly pleased.

 

‘Now, don’t judge me,’ Louis said, looking at Harry with a slightly sheepish smile.

 

Harry raised an eyebrow in question, but, instead of answering, Louis proceeded to open his fruit salad, fishing out the pineapple from it with the plastic fork and putting it on his pepperoni pizza.

 

Harry looked at him with horror.

 

‘Yeah, I know, it’s weird.’ Louis laughed at his expression, ‘I just really like pineapple on my pizza,’

 

‘Okay,’ Harry said, relaxing his face into a smile and making a mental note to remember that fact.

 

During lunch Louis accidentally went on a massive tangent, very passionately discussing how much better it would be if Les Miserables focused more on the relationship between Enjorlas and Marius instead of Marius and Cosette. He’d rather watch a musical about two guys fighting in the revolution together, discovering their feelings for each other, whether they were friends or lovers, than the guy falling desperately in love because he saw a girl through a fence once.

 

‘And Aaron Tvait, that’s the one playing Enjorlas, is _way_ more attractive than Eddie Redmayne as well. Don’t you think? I actually got to see him in this rock musical called ‘Next to Normal’ before he was in the film, he was so good in it. It’s one of my favorites.’ Louis kept talking passionately, while Harry watched his long, pretty eyelashes moving as he blinked. He was making another mental note to watch Les Miserables as soon as he got home that night.

 

‘Shit, I’m so sorry,’ Louis said suddenly, sounding really concerned, ‘I totally forgot! I’ve been going on and on for ages and you probably have no idea what I was on about. I’m so sorry.’

 

‘No, it’s okay,’ Harry said, shaking his head quickly to make sure that Louis didn’t worry too much. Even if he _didn’t_ understand any of it, just sitting there with Louis would have been entertaining enough.

 

‘Oh, don’t say that just to be nice, you must be bored out of your mind with me babbling here,’Louis frowned apologetically.

 

Harry shook his head again, decisively, until Louis sighed.

 

‘Okay,’ he said, ‘but I still feel bad. Sorry.’

 

Harry just waved his hand dismissively, and Louis smiled again.

 

‘Oh!’ Louis suddenly brightened up, then started to dig inside his jeans’ pocket, taking out his phone, ‘I’ve got something to show you.’

 

Harry sat up straighter, curiously, while Louis walked around the table and sat down on the seat next to him.

 

‘We almost have our Peter Pan routine done,’ he said excitedly, huddling in closer to Harry’s side, so that both of them could clearly see the screen, as he pressed play on the video on his phone.

 

Harry really liked the proximity, their shoulders pressed against each other tightly.

 

He also liked how the very tight shorts reaching mid-thigh and the loose v-neck shirt that Louis was wearing in the video on the screen, showed off all of Louis’ strong, but lean, muscles working together as he danced. He looked both delicate and strong at the same time and Harry couldn’t take his eyes of the screen. 

 

Of course, the skill wasn’t the only thing Harry was amazed at while watching the video. Harry knew that Louis had a great bum just from seeing it in his skinny jeans, but these shorts really showed off his sculpted legs and fantastic bottom. If he wasn’t sitting down, he would swoon and fall to the ground.

 

‘What do you think?’ Louis asked as the video ended.

 

Harry turned his head to the side to face him, and they were so, so close together that his breath caught for a moment.

 

‘Magical,’ he said, staring into Louis’ eyes intensely, making the other boy blush and look away. 

 

***

 

Louis asked Harry not to bring his packed lunch from home the next day, so that he could get the full American high school lunch experience. He told him to meet him by his locker which was part of his unofficial tour the week before. 

 

Harry finally appeared, looking a bit flushed, as the hallways were already filling with people and it was getting a bit busy.

 

‘Hey,’ Louis instantly perked up at the sight of him, ‘were you let out late?’

 

Harry nodded, catching his breath.

 

‘Oh, you didn’t have to rush over here,’ Louis said, even though he found the thought of Harry making an effort to see him on time quite satisfying. It was cute.

 

Harry just smiled and shrugged.

 

Louis returned the smile and, gesturing to the direction of the canteen, asked, ‘ready to go?’

 

Harry answered with a quick, affirmative nod and they started walking. Louis, being an expert at speed walking through busy school hallways, led the way, sometimes grabbing Harry’s hand to lightly pull him in the right direction or help him dodge groups of people in their way. Quite honestly, he mainly did that just because he enjoyed the physical contact. He enjoyed the way his hand fit into Harry’s larger one like it was meant to be there.

 

What he didn’t know is that Harry felt very much the same and silently wished for Louis’ hand to never leave his, it felt like it belonged there. That’s why, when the two of them got into the queue at the food counters and Louis’ would nudge him forward by ever so slightly placing his hand on Harry’s lower back, Harry felt like he was about to melt on the spot. He could barely think about the food there, so he just ended up picking up a rather gloopy-looking mac ’n’ cheese. That’s pretty American, right? 

 

From across the hall, Louis could see his friends waving and pulling suggestive faces at him as he walked towards a table with Harry. They all wanted to see Harry, so that they could find out “what the fuss is all about”, so he made sure that they could see them walk past, but headed to a table that was a bit further away. He didn’t actually want them interacting with Harry just yet. He didn’t know what he was worried about exactly, maybe it was the idea that they wouldn’t accept Harry, that they would judge him for not knowing english or something. Which would be ridiculous, really, his friends weren’t like that, but he still preferred to keep Harry to himself for now. 

 

***

 

‘Come on, little tadpole,’ Kendall said, ushering Harry to walk faster. They just got out of her car to walk to the football fields where the match was going to take place. ‘I know the best place to watch the cheerleaders from.’

 

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Harry sighed, speeding up his steps.

 

It wasn’t as crowded as Harry worried it would be on the bleachers. It was quite relaxed, really. Kendall informed him that it was because not as many people came to lacrosse games, it was football that got the most hype around it, and it was still just the beginning of the season, so not many people cared. 

 

Harry couldn’t see the cheerleading team anywhere at first, until Kendall pointed them out, sitting at the front benches. They weren’t dressed in the skimpy uniforms that Harry was expecting, but were all wearing tracksuit jumpers, talking animatedly amongst themselves. Kendall explained that they were only going to be doing a couple routines during half-time and maybe at the end of the game. As she said before, lacrosse games weren’t as showy as football ones.

 

Harry watched the group of identical tracksuits sitting together instead of the game on the field and, sure enough, just as the end of the first half was getting closer, the cheerleading team got off the benches, stripping themselves of the tracksuits and starting to do some quick warm ups. 

 

And there he was. 

 

Louis was standing among girls, who were all in short skirts and tight, long-sleeved tops in the school’s colours — black, with details in dark green and light blue. Louis’ uniform was much less revealing, with full length bottoms and a v-neck shirt, both with the same blue and green patterns as the girls’ uniforms. They looked pretty impressive, Harry thought.

 

The routine was simple, but well rehearsed, with a couple of more complex throws to add a bit of excitement into it. Harry loved it. He had never seen anything like that in real life before, so it was an interesting experience. Also, Louis was there, which made _everything_ better. Always.

 

Harry clapped like crazy once they had finished and, somehow, unlikely as it was, Louis looked up towards the crowd and their eyes met. They stared at each other for a moment, before Louis quirked his head in surprise, a smile slowly growing on his face. Harry waved shyly and Louis laughed, sending back a wave of his own. For a second it felt like it was just a two of them.

 

‘Oh my gosh! He just waved at you,’ Kendall said excitedly, grabbing Harry’s arm just above his shoulder.

 

‘Yeah,’ Harry said with a happy sigh.

 

‘He totally likes you, I can tell.’ Kendall said insistently, ‘it’s so cute. You should do something about it.’

 

Harry didn’t know how to reply to that, so he just chewed on the inside of his lip, letting Kendall’s words replay in his mind. _He totally likes you, I can tell._

 

***

 

Harry and Kendall were just getting off the bleachers when, a still flushed from doing the finishing routine Louis ran up to them.

 

‘Hey, Harry! Didn’t know you’d be here.’ he beamed.

 

‘Hi,’ Harry said, suddenly nervous. Kendall was there and didn’t know about the whole language misunderstanding between Louis and him — what if she said something and Louis found out that Harry was just pretending? She could ruin everything without knowing it.

 

‘Hi Louis,’ Kendall said, ‘I’m here too, you know.’

 

‘Yeah, sorry,’ Louis laughed awkwardly, running a hand through the back of his hair, ‘good to see you Kendall,’

 

‘So you two know each other?’ She asked with a curious smile, looking between them.

 

‘Yeah—‘ Louis started answering, but then he was stopped mid-word when something quite large hit him from behind. ‘Ow,’ Louis said, rubbing his shoulder and looking down at the ground. It was a lacrosse helmet, ‘What the—?’

 

Two girls appeared by his side almost instantly. One was dressed in the lacrosse uniform with a hoodie over it, while the other was dressed normally, in jeans and a warm, pink jumper. He has never seen the first girl before. She had light brown skin, still pinkish and flushed at the cheeks from all the physical activity she had just done, and curly, dark brown hair that looked like it was desperately trying to break free out of the messy bun that she had it tied up in. He recognised the second girl as Louis’ dance partner, Dee Dee.

 

‘Oi, lover boy! If you want a ride home, you better hurry up. My sister will literally drive off without us if we’re not there within the next five minutes, you know what she’s like.’ the girl he didn’t know said, staring at Louis with a bored expression. 

 

Louis went white as a sheet.

 

‘Um, this is Olivia and Dee Dee,’ Louis choked out, glancing at Harry apologetically, ‘and this is Harry and Kendall.’

 

There was a chorus of ‘hi’s and ‘nice to meet you’s shared between them, before Olivia started tapping Louis’ shoulder with the end of her lacrosse stick.

 

‘Come on, come on,’ she said more urgently this time, ‘there’s really no time for socialising right now. Georgia is in a mood and she really _is_ going to drive off without us if we don’t leave now.’ she then turned to Harry and Kendall, with an exhausted sigh, ’Sorry guys, don't mean to be rude, I just have a really annoying sister.’

 

‘That’s all right,’ Kendall laughed, ‘I have a sister too, I know how they can be.’

 

‘I’ll see you later Harry,’ Louis said more downheartedly, ‘see you tomorrow, yeah?’

 

Harry nodded in response just as Olivia physically started dragging Louis away.

 

‘Nice to finally meet you Harry!’ Dee Dee said again, smiling widely, before following the other two quickly.

 

Once the three of them were out of view, Kendall leaned in closer to Harry,

 

‘He _likes_ you,’ she sing-sang quietly, giggling.

 

Harry was just thankful that nothing went wrong.

 

***

 

He had to do it now, Louis kept thinking as he made his way to his and Harry’s usual lunch spot. It _had to_ be now, before his friends embarrassed him even more. 

 

Harry was already there, so he took a last, deep breath to gather some courage, then walked faster towards the boy.

 

‘Hi,’ he said happily, causing Harry to look up from his phone quickly and smile up at him.

 

‘Hi,’ he replied simply.

 

‘It was nice seeing you last night. Didn’t know you were coming.’ Louis said, sitting down.

 

‘You were really good.’ Harry said in response.

 

‘You really liked it?’ Louis asked happily.

 

‘Yes,’ Harry said, his expression very serious.

 

‘Thanks,’ Louis said, blushing, ‘it was my choreography, so that’s really nice to hear.’

 

‘Very good.’ Harry said, nodding reassuringly.

 

Okay, now was his time, Louis thought.

 

‘I was wondering if you’d like to hang out after school some time.’ Louis said, the words pouring out of him quickly. 

 

Harry stared at him with slight surprise, it seemed, and for a moment Louis felt very uneasy. 

 

But then Harry nodded, a wide smile spreading across his face, wide enough for his dimples to make an appearance and, damn, Louis loved those dimples.

 

‘Awesome,’ Louis said, ‘how about tomorrow?’

 

Harry nodded again and, finally, Louis relaxed. They spent the rest of the lunch break huddled together over Louis’ phone, as he showed Harry videos of his favourite dance routines that he wanted to borrow moves from for one his solo performances. Harry found it all very interesting.

 

***

 

Harry was feeling very giddy as he walked towards Louis’ locker after his last lesson of the day. He knew that Louis hadn’t really _asked him out_ , just asked him to hang out outside of school, but Kendall’s words still played over and over in his head. _He likes you_. There was also that little moment when Louis’ friends called him ‘lover boy’, but that could’ve meant anything really, so he decided to try and forget that.

 

He couldn’t shake Kendall’s ‘he likes you’, though. No chance.

 

Louis was standing in the busy corridor, digging through the stuff in his locker, when Harry got there.

 

‘Hey,’ he said when he was just a foot away from him, making Louis jump.

 

‘God,’ Louis gasped, holding a hand over his heart dramatically, ‘I didn’t see you there.’

 

Harry laughed in response, as Louis shut his locker, apparently completely disregarding whatever he was trying to find there. 

 

‘Lets go,’ he said, smiling, then started leading Harry through the hallways and towards the carpark, much the same as he had that time when they ate lunch in the cafeteria, with these light, familiar touches that Harry loved.

 

‘Do you feel like going somewhere? Cinema or something? Or do you just wanna hang out at my house for a while?’ Louis asked once they were in the car, and Harry realised that he was so consumed by the repetitive _He likes you_ , that he didn’t even think of where they could go.

 

‘Um,’ he hesitated for a moment, ‘house?’

 

‘Okay,’ Louis nodded with a soft smile, then did his seatbelt, making sure Harry had his on as well, before turning the engine on and starting to back out of his parking spot.

 

Louis was a very careful, calm driver, Harry realised and somehow he found that so, so attractive. He liked feeling like he wasn’t about to die on the road, it seemed. They didn’t speak during the car ride, so Harry spent most of it either staring at Louis or the houses they passed outside. The ‘Wicked’ soundtrack was playing in the background.

 

Harry didn’t realise they had reached the destination until the music stopped and Louis looked at him with a shy smile. 

 

‘You ready?’ he asked, and Harry nodded happily in response. They both got out of the car and Louis did that thing again, placing his hand on Harry’s lower back to lead him in the direction of the house.

 

The door wasn’t locked, so they just walked in, but as soon as the door closed behind them, a woman’s voice came from inside.

 

‘Identify yourself!’ the voice shouted, making Harry jump.

 

‘It’s Louis,’ he shouted back, walking further into the house, looking back once he noticed that Harry was still stood by the door. With a tilt of the head and a reassuring smile, he gestured for Harry to follow him.

 

‘Great! I’ve just boiled some water, would you like a cuppa?’ the voice said with a strong Yorkshire accent.

 

Wait, what?

 

Harry frowned, confused, just as a woman appeared in the doorway that Louis was heading towards. 

 

‘Yeah mum, Harry’s here too though.’ Louis replied, sounding just as Yorkshire, ‘We’re just gonna hang out upstairs, okay?’

 

Harry was staring from one to the other completely confused, because, what?

 

‘Oh, hello love,’ the woman said, slightly surprised at the sight of Harry standing there at first, but quickly composed herself and smiled warmly. ‘Harry, is it? Lovely to meet you, how are you finding LA?’

 

‘Oh, it’s great, thank you. I’m a bit disappointed that I haven’t been given a creepily realistic doll to take care of for Health Class yet, like they always do in TV shows, though.’ Harry replied without thinking. Just as the words left his mouth he realised his mistake.

 

He forgot.

 

Just for a second, he forgot that he was in America, confused by all the talk about cups of tea and the very un-American accents. Just for a second, he forgot that he wasn’t supposed to know english.

 

Shit.

 

With an anxious feeling spreading through him, he decided to look towards Louis, who was staring at him with wide shocked eyes, as if he had just painted the Mona Lisa while blindfolded. 

 

While they both stared at each other with incredulous looks, both extremely confused, Louis’ mother continued to speak, apparently completely oblivious to the tension between the two.

 

‘Yeah, Louis once had to do one of those projects and he kept complaining, saying “I don’t need a fake baby to play with, I’ve been changing my sisters’ nappies since I was ten!”’ she laughed, shaking her head fondly, ‘the teacher wrote me a note, complaining about him disrupting her lessons and refusing to participate. In the end, the teacher did win though, and Louis did the project, but he made sure to look as miserable as possible any time he had that doll with him. Silly boy.’

 

‘Mum, could you bring the tea upstairs for me?’ Louis asked, ignoring what she had just said, still staring at Harry, ‘We just wanna go to my room now.'

 

The _and explain what the fuck is going on_ , went unsaid, but understood by Harry.

 

‘Louis Tomlinson, I am your mother, not your maid and you’re being very rude,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘You didn’t even ask if Harry wanted a drink too.’

 

‘Tea would be lovely,’ Harry said in a soft voice, ‘little bit of milk and two sugars please, if that’s all right?’

 

He smiled at her with the most charming little smile, and she looked absolutely enamoured by it. Louis would’ve been too, if he wasn’t so confused and angry.

 

‘Of course love, I’ll go and make that for ya’ then,’ she replied warmly, ‘and I’ll bring it upstairs too, so you can leave now,’ she added, directing the second part to Louis with a little bit more bite.

 

‘Thanks mum,’ Louis replied, then gestured for Harry to follow him. Quickly. 

 

They made their way upstairs and into Louis’ room and Harry didn’t even have a moment to have a proper look around because, just as the door closed behind them, Louis was already speaking.

 

‘What the fuck mate?’ Louis asked in a raised voice, staring at Harry with wide, astounded eyes.

 

‘I could ask you the same!’ Harry replied his voice strained and slightly squeaky because of the stress he was feeling, ‘Have you been faking an American accent all this time?’

 

‘Ugh,’ Louis groaned, ‘that’s a completely different thing, we’re talking about _you_ now, pretending not to speak English! Why did you do that? Was it some sort of joke? Did you find it funny, me making an idiot of myself?’

 

‘No!’ Harry said quickly, almost desperately, ‘It wasn’t like that. I didn’t even mean for it to happen, honestly. I just—‘ he hesitated, searching for words. Then he gave up and, throwing his arms in the air in distress, said, ‘I’M JUST _SO_ AWKWARD.’

 

Harry groaned, angry at himself, hiding his face in his hands.

 

There was a moment of silence, Louis clearly stunned by Harry’s outburst.

 

‘Are you all right?’ Louis eventually asked, sounding slightly concerned and much calmer than before.

 

Harry pulled his hands away from his face, letting out a big sigh.

 

‘Yeah,’ he said quietly, then looked back at Louis with a self-conscious, worried frown, ‘I just really don’t want you to be mad at me, because I didn’t mean to make fun of you, I promise.’ 

 

‘Right,’ Louis scoffed.

 

‘No, just let me explain.’ Harry said with pleading eyes.

 

Louis glanced at him, before nodding for him to continue.

 

‘Okay.’ Harry said, taking in a deep breath to prepare himself, ‘It’s just that, when you started talking to me, I was so surprised and didn’t know what to say and apparently you just assumed I couldn’t speak the language, when, in fact, I was just too nervous to string even a few words together. And then once you thought I couldn’t understand you, I didn’t know what to do, so I just started going along with it. I didn’t mean to make you angry. I was just too embarrassed to say anything, and then later, when you started hanging out with me, I was just having so much fun and didn’t want that to end. You made me laugh, but in a good way, you know, not because I was making fun of you.’

 

Harry stopped talking then, trying to figure out what Louis was thinking, because he sure wasn’t saying anything. He just stood there, frowning. The silence was painful.

 

Then a loud knock on the door made them both jump.

 

‘Come in!’ Louis said and the door opened, revealing his mum with two mugs of tea and a packet of biscuits placed on a small tray.

 

‘Hello again,’ she said cheerfully, ‘how are you boys getting on?’

 

‘Great.’ Louis said flatly, then, seeing his mum’s confusion at his tone, spoke more warmly, ‘thanks for the tea mum.’

 

‘You’re welcome,’ she said, slightly hesitant, but apparently decided against inquiring and just placed the tray on Louis’ desk and, with a short, ‘I’ll see you boys later,’ left the room.

 

Louis sighed, rubbing at his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

 

‘So, what you’re saying is, that you pretended not to know english for a week and a half now, because you were too nervous to talk to me the first time we met?’

 

‘Um, yeah, I guess.’ Harry said, squirming at how stupid that sounded. 

 

‘That’s absolutely ridiculous,’ Louis said with a laugh.

 

‘I know!’ Harry said, ‘I know and it’s so _embarrassing_.’

 

They both started laughing then, finding the whole thing so nonsensical. It was just such a bizarre misunderstanding. 

 

Eventually their laughter came to a natural end, until they were standing there in silence again, but, unlike before, this one was a comfortable one.

 

‘It’s all right, Harry,’ Louis said.

 

‘Huh?’ 

 

‘It’s okay, I’m not mad at you.’ he clarified.

 

‘Oh,’ Harry said, a small smile spreading, ’that’s good then.’

 

Then Louis took a few steps forward, closing the space between them and wrapped his arms around Harry in a hug. Harry was startled at first, but then relaxed into the embrace.

 

‘And you never have to feel nervous or embarrassed around me about anything, okay?’ Louis said softly, squeezing Harry tighter, making him feel completely at ease again.

 

‘Yeah,’ Harry said, smiling into Louis’ hair, then moved back slightly, ‘Now it’s your turn.’ 

 

Louis backed away, looking confused, so Harry continued, ‘I mean, now it’s your turn to explain yourself. Why the fake accent?’

 

‘Oh,’ Louis said, a frown appearing on his face again. ‘I don’t know how to explain it, really. It’s just like a part of me now, you know? I’ve been doing it for so long.’

 

‘How come?’

 

Louis sighed, walking over to his bed and sitting down. He scrunched up his face, looking a bit uneasy and sad.

 

‘Well, I’m from England originally, as you can obviously tell, but we moved over here when I was eight, when my stepdad got a promotion.’ he explained, ‘and kids are just stupid at eight, you know? When I started going to school here, I sounded different to everyone else and the other kids would make fun of me, so I started to put this accent on, just to fit in. I didn’t like to be different, you know? I just didn’t know that being different wasn’t necessarily a bad thing back then.’

 

‘So why do you still do it, then? I mean, you don’t strike me as someone who would change who they are to please others anymore, so why not just be yourself?’ Harry asked. He wanted to understand.

 

‘I don’t really know,’ Louis shrugged, ‘I’ve just been doing it for so long, that I’m used to it by now.’

 

‘So, what, you only talk in your real accent at home?’

 

‘Pretty much.’ Louis shrugged.

 

‘That’s a strange way to live,’ Harry said thoughtfully.

 

‘Yeah,’ Louis nodded. He looked down at his hands, adding, ‘I miss it, you know?’

 

‘Miss what?’ Harry asked, feeling a sudden urge to walk up to Louis and _hold him_. He just looked so troubled all of a sudden.

 

‘Home. England.’ Louis said, ‘I mean, I love this place and my friends and all the great memories I’ve had here, but it never really felt like _home_. It’s always been like two separate worlds for me, I think, so maybe that’s why I still change my accent and keep the two separate.’

 

That’s when Harry decided to listen to that inner voice and sit down next to Louis, wrapping an arm around him.

 

‘Sometimes, I wish I could just go back, and not just for a holiday, but for real,’ he said quietly, then shook his head, ‘shit, I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I’ve never actually said it out loud.’

 

‘It’s okay, you can tell me anything,’ Harry said softly, ‘I know you might not think so, because of how I’ve behaved so far, but you can trust me.’

 

‘Can I? Really?’ Louis looked up into Harry’s eyes, searching.

 

‘Yes,’ Harry replied with a decisive, genuine tone. ‘One hundred percent.’

 

‘Good,’ Louis smiled, ‘because I do. I don’t know why, but you make me feel more “me” than anyone else ever had. I know it might sound weird.’

 

‘No,’ Harry shook his head, ‘I’m glad you feel that way. I really want you to just be yourself around me.’

 

‘Okay,’ Louis nodded in agreement, smiling back shyly, ‘thank you.’

 

‘My pleasure,’ Harry smiled back, before pulling Louis closer into his chest, ’You’re honestly amazing and I’m so glad I’ve met you.’

 

Louis breath hitched in his throat at the compliment, before he replied with a quiet, heartfelt, ’thank you.’

 

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, before Louis suddenly gasped, sounding horrified.

 

‘We forgot about out tea!’ he said gravely. ‘It’s gone all cold!’

 

Harry burst out laughing,

 

‘It’s really not that big of a deal, Louis,’ he said, watching Louis’ expression with great amusement.

 

‘No, you don’t understand, if we don’t drink the tea, my mum will be really sad,’ he explained, his frown completely serious, ‘she doesn’t handle tea-rejection very well.’

 

‘Okay then,’ Harry chuckled, ‘we can drink it cold, no worries.’

 

‘Okay,’ Louis nodded, sighing in relief.

 

‘You’re a funny family, aren’t you?’ Harry said fondly.

 

‘Yeah, we all have our little quirks,’ Louis replied with a smile. ‘It’s just who we are.’

 

‘That’s nice,’ Harry replied, ‘I like that.’

 

***

 

The two boys decided to watch something, settling on — surprise, surprise — a musical, and finally picking the new version of ‘Annie’. They both just felt like something fun and simple, after all the serious talk they have done earlier. Except, around halfway through, Harry started getting distracted, feeling like he hadn’t been _completely_ honest, realising that there was more he wanted to say.

 

‘Hey, Louis,’ he said, turning towards the boy.

 

‘Hm?’ Louis responded, pulling himself away from the world of the movie.

 

‘I’ve just had something more on my mind,’ Harry admitted in a hushed voice, as if he wasn't too confident in what he was saying.

 

Louis picked up on his hesitance and sat up straighter.

 

‘What is it?’ he asked.

 

‘I just feel like I haven’t been completely honest—‘ Harry said, which made Louis frown. He seemed apprehensive, probably expecting something bad. Noticing the negative response to his words, Harry quickly added, ‘No, I mean, it’s not anything bad, at least I hope you won’t think so. It’s just that I was thinking about why I kept pretending not to speak english for so long and I realised that there was more to it than just feeling embarrassed.’

 

‘Yeah?’ Louis said, urging him to go on.

 

‘Well, I think I just sort off— liked the attention, you know?’ Harry said, scrunching his face up at the confession, ‘I liked that you wanted to spend time with me and I didn’t want anything to change. And—‘ he hesitated, ‘and I liked the way you treated me, like, these little things that you would do like when you’d move in closer or put your hand on my back to make sure I was going the right way. I just liked that— the contact, you know. I liked being close to you.’

 

‘Oh,’ Louis said, taking that in, before instinctively moving closer to Harry, ‘I liked that too.’

 

‘Yeah?’

 

‘In fact,’ Louis said, ‘if it were up to me, I’d like us to get even closer.’ then he laughed, ‘God, that sounded so cheesy.’

 

But, when Harry didn’t laugh back and a silence fell between them, one of those loaded silences that feel like they are louder than if someone was screaming at the top of their lungs, he swallowed hard and stared into Harry’s eyes, pupils large.

 

The air felt charged and suddenly Harry found it harder to breathe, looking into Louis’ eyes which were dark and clearly waiting in anticipation. There was nothing else to do, but lean in and close the distance between them completely, eager lips meeting each other quickly.

 

They kissed and it felt _right_. It felt like their lips were made to fit together perfectly. There was this strange familiarity to it, that made the kiss so much more exciting, so much more longing.

 

When they finally broke apart, slightly breathless, Louis spoke.

 

‘Don’t worry, Harry,’ he said in a hushed, husky voice, a little smirk pulling at his lips, ‘you’re definitely not going to lose my attention now, in fact, you’ll probably be getting loads of it, if not all.’

 

Harry laughed lightly, ‘sounds good to me.’

 

‘So,’ Louis said with a cheeky smile, ‘do you wanna hang out tomorrow too?’

 

‘Definitely.’ Harry grinned.

 

***

 

Harry wasn’t completely sure how it happened, but Louis managed to talk him into, not only meeting his friends, but doing so _at a party_. Now, Harry wasn’t much of a party person, at all, but Louis assured him that they would just be hanging out with his close friends. Nothing major.

 

So, when Saturday night came around and they arrived at a large house, with about a dozen cars already parked around it, it made Harry feel anxious and a bit annoyed. It didn’t look like a small party at all. 

 

Clearly noticing the unease on his face, Louis put a hand on his knee, ‘Hey, it’s gonna be fine, you don’t need to worry. Georgia throws parties all the time, so a tonne of people come, but it’s all her friends and we’re not really going to be mixing with that crowd. We’re just hanging out with my mates.’ 

 

‘Okay,’ Harry nodded, still not completely at ease.

 

‘Come on then,’ Louis smiled, giving his knee a little squeeze, before opening his door and climbing out of the car. When Harry joined him, he put his palm on Harry’s back, just as he always did, lightly encouraging him to move forwards towards the house.

 

As soon as they walked through the threshold, Harry noticed that the place wasn’t quite as crowded as he expected, but then again, it was only 8pm and there was plenty of time for it to become stuffy, loud and packed with strangers. Louis noticed his hesitance again, and grabbed his hand, giving it a small, reassuring squeeze. 

 

Within seconds, a girl’s voice shouted, ‘Lewis Tomatoson!’ in a very dramatic voice, ‘Look who finally decided to join us!’ from somewhere above them.

 

Harry looked up to see the familiar, curly haired girl run down the stairs towards them. She grinned, running straight into them and trapping them both in a hug.

 

‘Lou bear!’ she cheered excitedly, ‘and Harry! Hello, hello, welcome.’

 

‘Seems like someone’s already drunk, aren’t they, Olive?’ Louis laughed, shaking his head with mock-disapproval.

 

‘Listen!’ she said in a harsh tone, pointing a finger at him, ‘if you had to deal with my sister, you’d be drinking 24/7, so don’t you dare judge me.’

 

‘I’m not, I’m not,’ Louis laughed.

 

Harry was feeling slightly uncomfortable just standing there, but suddenly Olivia turned her attention to him.

 

‘God!’ she exclaimed dramatically, giving him an apologetic look, ‘I must be making an absolutely awful first — no, wait a sec, — _second_ impression right now.’

 

‘Don’t worry, she’s gonna sober up soon enough and be back to her moody, sarcastic self in no time,’ Louis said with a smirk.

 

She huffed, frowning, clearly not pleased with Louis’ comment.

 

‘Whatever Tomatoson, lets go upstairs already,’ she said, then spun around and started running up the stairs, the two boys right behind her, still hand in hand.

 

‘Louis and Harry are here!’ Olivia announced as she walked into her room, before the two even got to the door.

 

Everyone’s eyes were on them once they got there and Harry felt uneasy at the sudden attention. All that he managed was a quiet, ‘hey guys.’

 

‘Hi Harry,’ they all said in a staggered chorus, smiling.

 

‘Come on then,’ Louis leaned in closer to Harry, whispering into his ear, ‘they’re all nice, I promise.’

 

‘Okay,’ Harry said back, taking a few steps forward.

 

As soon as he closed the door behind them, Louis let go of Harry’s hand and clasped his hands together dramatically.

 

‘Okay then! Time to meet all of our contestants!’ he said, projecting his voice dramatically, putting on some sort of gameshow host voice, ‘On the left, sitting by the desk, we have our favourite businessman, politician and very possibly a secret body-builder, who gets _way_ too into every possible school project. Please welcome, Mr. Liam Payne.’

 

‘Whooo,’ Olivia cheered, humouring him.

 

Liam just rolled his eyes with a bored expression on his face.

 

‘What he’s saying is that I’m on the student council,’ Liam explained, shaking his head, ‘Dork.’

 

‘Oh, just look at him, sitting by that desk, ready to jump on that chair any moment and start doing other people’s taxes for fun!’ Louis bit back with a laugh.

 

‘Ha ha,’ Liam said dryly, but let out a small laugh too. 

 

‘Now!’ Louis continued, voice booming, ‘On his right, we have our next contestant. Please all give a round of applause for the lovely Sophia Smith, our favourite costume designer and absolute life-saver, making sure everything goes right backstage during shows.’ 

 

Olivia cheered again, while Sophia did a little, curtsy in her seat. She was sitting next to Liam on a comfy looking armchair that looked way too big for the room and clearly must have been dragged in there some time earlier to make enough places for people to sit down in tonight.

 

‘She is also Mr. Payne’s girlfriend,’ Louis said, then, in an exaggerated stage whisper, added, ‘she really had to lower her standards to be dating that one, right?’

 

Liam just shook his head again, but still smiled, ‘prick.’

 

‘Okay! Moving on!’ Louis said again, ‘Right there, on the bed, all tangled up with her girlfriend, is possibly the best lacrosse player to have ever graced the earth, Olivia Mitchell!’

 

Olivia cheered again, while Dee Dee lay a small kiss on the top of her head with a fond smile. They were both sitting on the bed with their backs against the wall. Harry was surprised at the word ‘girlfriend’, but seeing the way the two were looking at each other, the sort of intimacy that was there between them, it was glaringly obvious that they were together.

 

‘Oh, just look at them!’ Louis cooed, ‘all in love. Couple goals, right?’

 

‘Yeah!’ Olivia said, laughing, ‘and you know it!’

 

‘You really have drunk a lot, haven’t you?’ Dee Dee said softly, just to her.

 

‘She’s right though. If she’s fine with giving your disgusting ballet dancer feet foot rubs, then it must be love!’ he said, nodding authoritatively.

 

‘Okay, there Cinderella, as if your feet are much better,’ Dee Dee snapped back. ‘Ballet does that to you.’

 

‘Well, I never had to go en pointe, so they're not _quite_ as fucked.’ Louis said, ‘Far from it, really.’

 

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Dee Dee said in reluctant agreement, ‘but lets leave my disfigured feet alone now, okay?’

 

‘That’s probably a good idea, that’s really not a pleasant subject, is it? Ew.’ Louis said, laughing at her annoyed facial expression.

 

‘Um, do I not get an introduction?’ she said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow expectantly.

 

‘Ah! Of course!’ Louis said, putting his presenter voice on again, ‘Our next contestant, Diana “Dee Dee” Wilson — her feet may be disfigured, but her dancing is the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see in your life. Stronger than Liam, yet lighter than a feather, her breathtaking moves have swept more than just Olivia off her feet, but all who have ever witnessed her impeccable dance moves. Please. A round of applause for Dee Dee Wilson, everyone!’

 

Olivia clapped and cheered louder than she had for anyone else, before turning to Dee Dee and giving her a quick little peck on the cheek, ‘my star,’ she said with a giggle. 

 

‘And here, on my right, is Harry, a lovely sophomore straight from the British Isles,’ Louis said, smiling at Harry with awe, before turning to Olivia with a pointed, ‘who really should have a drink in his hand by now, Olivia, what sort of host are you?’

 

‘Shit!’ Olivia jumped up instantly, then swayed a bit, falling back down onto the bed, ‘Ooops. Stood up to quick.’

 

Dee Dee shook her head, ‘we’re all just drinking vodka and mixers now,’ she said, pointing to the bottles on the desk, ‘I’m afraid that they’ve gone room-temperature now, but there’s loads of stuff downstairs if you want something different or, you know, refrigerated.’

 

Harry looked at Louis unsure, ‘are you getting a drink?’

 

‘No, ‘course not,’ Louis said, ‘designated driver, remember?’ he said patting the pocket of his jeans where his car keys were.

 

‘Oh, right,’ Harry said.

 

‘Don’t worry, no one’s making you drink.’ Louis said softly, nuzzling into Harry’s hair, ‘and I’d always make sure you were fine.’

 

‘What should I have then?’ Harry asked happily then, feeling completely safe with Louis. 

 

***

 

Louis kept his promise, of course, and it didn’t take long for Harry to relax around his friends and have fun spending time with them. It was surprising how quickly he fit into their group and joined into the conversation — and it wasn’t just the alcohol. 

 

‘That’s so funny!’ Olivia said, after finding out about Harry and Louis’ language confusion.

 

‘I can’t believe you thought that Harry couldn’t speak english. How did that even happen?’ Liam laughed, ‘what did you think he did all day in his classes?’

 

‘I don’t know!’ Louis whined, he didn’t like how they were ganging up on him, especially since they were right to mock him. In retrospect, his thinking process back then really did make no sense at all. ‘It’s your fault, really! You told me he didn't speak much when you met him.’

 

‘Yeah, I said he didn’t speak much, not that he _couldn’t_. You made all of that up in that empty, little head of yours.’ Liam said, making Louis squirm even more. He felt like such an idiot.

 

‘Wait, you asked about me before you met me?’ Harry asked, confused.

 

‘Yeah, Louis has been waiting for a hot exchange student to come into his life and sweep him off his feet for three years now.’ Liam said, rolling his eyes. ‘He always interrogates me after I meet the new exchange students. Looks like he finally lucked out though, right?’

 

‘I’m not hot.’ Harry laughed awkwardly, blushing terribly.

 

‘Well, I think Louis would disagree,’ Olivia said with a an amused smile. ‘Louis, tell him.’

 

Louis leaned into Harry, his lips so close to Harry’s ear that Louis’ breath gave him chills, ‘you’re beautiful,’ he said to only him.

 

Harry’s breath hitched. No one had ever said something like that to him and he didn’t quite know what to do.

 

‘Uh-um, thank you.’ he finally managed to say quietly, and Louis chuckled happily, pulling him tighter into his side and giving him a short, cute kiss on the head. Harry stayed like that, tucked under Louis’ arm until his legs had gone completely numb and he had to switch positions. He felt like he belonged in Louis’ arms.

 

***

 

Over the next few weeks, Harry had fit into the group like a puzzle piece that had been missing for years, hidden under the sofa or, you know, on a different continent, and finally made it’s way to the rest of the picture, completing it. He had learned so much about Louis’ friends and started spending time with them, even when Louis wasn’t around.

 

He learned that the reason why they all called Diana ‘Dee Dee’ instead of her real name, was because when she was five and first started ballet, she loved it so much that she insisted on wearing a pink dress with a tutu to school every day for _months_ , which reminded everyone of Dee Dee from ‘Dexter’s Laboratory’. 

 

‘She would jump around and show me everything she had learned during breaks at school.’ Olivia told him fondly one time, ‘she had them little pigtails as well. Always. So, yeah, she _really_ looked like Dexter’s sister.’

 

Harry loved watching Olivia and Dee Dee around each other, they were so genuine about their feelings, you could _tell_ that they meant every little thing that they said about each other. He had never met any people so in sync with one another. They had been friends all of their lives, he found out, until, around a year before, they realised that they were more than that. They were in love, and they loved talking about it too. A LOT. Some of the other’s teased them about it, but not Harry. Harry ate that sort of stuff up. He wished he could have something like that. He _prayed_ for it. 

 

But what he had were six weeks and they were quickly running out.

 

***

 

By the time Harry’s last week in LA came around, a countdown started in Louis’ head. A daunting, heart-clenching countdown of how many hours they had left together. That’s when Louis realised how much of an annoying idiot his past self was in thinking that a tragic romance was what he wanted, that the knowledge of the fact that there would be a limit to how long he would have together with a guy would somehow make everything more passionate and meaningful.

 

But he was wrong. It was just as the name suggested — tragic. Devastating. He didn’t want six weeks with Harry. He wanted _everything_. 

 

Thirty-three hours before Harry had to get on his plane, the two were lying on Louis’ bed, and there was this heaviness in the air. They were supposed to be hanging out together before heading off to Olivia’s, to have a little going away party for Harry, but instead, they had been stuck there, not-watching the movie that they had put on. There was a long-overdue conversation that had to be had, they both knew that, but wanted to put off as much as possible.

 

‘Five thousand miles is a long way,’ Harry finally broke the silence, not looking at Louis as he said the words.

 

‘Yeah,’ Louis replied. His eyes stung suddenly, throat tight. It was a long time before he added, ’What if it wasn’t five thousand miles, though?’

 

That’s when Harry turned to him, eyes sad and quizzical.

 

Louis cleared his throat.

 

‘What if it was, lets say, a hundred and eighty miles… or sixty… or even twenty-five?’ his voice was hesitant. He was afraid of voicing the thoughts that had been running through his mind nearly constantly now. He was afraid of finally saying what he had been feeling, even before the two had met, but he realised that if there was anyone that he could share them with, it was Harry.

 

‘What are you saying, Lou?’

 

‘What if I was if England,’ Louis said, ‘what would happen then?’

 

‘Louis—‘ Harry said with concerned, torn eyes, clearly conflicted.

 

‘I’ve been thinking about it for a while,’ Louis said and it felt like a confession. It felt like coming clean. ‘Moving back to England, I mean. More now, obviously.’

 

Harry took Louis’ hand in his own, squeezing it tightly.

 

‘Lou, it’s not that simple, think about what you’re saying,’ Harry said, softly, but it made Louis angry.

 

‘I _know_ that! Obviously, I know that, Harry.’ he bit back, voice almost breaking, slightly desperate, ‘you think I take that lightly? No. You know I’ve never felt completely at home here. I’ve said it before.’

 

Harry stared at him, looking slightly startled by the outburst. After a moment of tense silence, he replied with a slow nod.

 

‘I know,’ he said quietly, ‘I’m sorry, you’re right. I just— I had to make sure that you’re not just saying that because of me, you know?’

 

‘I’m not,’ Louis sighed sadly, ‘although you _have_ made me think about it more. You sort of made me finally accept that it’s not just an idea— I actually _want it_. See, being with you, especially recently, I realised that I didn’t want you to stay here,’ Louis said, and Harry looked hurt instantly, ‘no, listen, what I mean is that I realised that I didn’t want you to stay, because I wanted to come _with_ you.’

 

‘Oh,’ Harry’s voice was soft. He bit down on his lip thoughtfully for a while, before continuing, ‘I don’t know what to tell you. A part of me wants to say yes, move to England, because then you’d be closer, but I’m worried that that’s just me being selfish and not actually thinking about what would be best for you. I don’t want to tell you to move, just because I’d love to have you there— because I would, but it isn’t about me, it’s about _you_.’

 

Louis nodded, understanding where Harry was coming from.

 

‘Okay,’ he said, ‘but I need you to listen to me now, okay? Not as a boyfriend, but as a person who knows me, because I feel like you really _know_ me, you know? I feel like I’ve never been as close to anyone as I am to you now. I feel like I need to tell someone exactly what’s been going on in my head. Can you just go through my thinking processes with me?’

 

‘Of course,’ Harry nodded seriously, ‘you can tell me anything.’

 

‘Could we do like a pros/cons list?’ Louis asked, ‘just go through it, to see if I’m not just being stupid, to actually figure out if it’s a good idea?’

 

‘Okay,’ Harry nodded, ‘first issue, it’s far away. Are you prepared to move away from your friends and family? Because I know how much you love both.’

 

‘Yeah, it’s far. Ridiculously far, in fact.’ Louis nodded, frowning, ‘I will miss them horribly, but I’m eighteen, I’m about to go to college and I would be moving out anyway. All of my friends are going away to college too. Chances are, we’re only going to be seeing each other during breaks anyway. Plus, there’s always Skype, right?’

 

‘That’s all true,’ Harry nodded, ‘what about university, then? What will you do?’

 

‘Well, there are plenty drama courses in England too. I’ve looked into some of them, actually.’ Louis said, ‘it might be difficult to sort everything out though. Money. Living places. It’s all a lot of work.’

 

‘Wow,’ Harry said, eyes widening slightly, ‘you really _have_ been thinking about it a lot, haven’t you?’

 

‘Yeah,’ Louis nodded, ‘of course. I’m not just making these decisions on a whim, Harry.’

 

Harry nodded, smiling softly.

 

‘Listen, Louis.’ he said, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, ‘if it’s what you really want, then you will find a way. And yeah, I might’ve been hesitant at first, but I _do_ know that it matters a lot to you, and your family and friends will understand too, once they see it.’

 

‘I’m just worried that I’d be hurting them,’ Louis said, frowning sadly.

 

‘I get that,’ Harry nodded, ‘but I think they would be more upset if they found out you were doing something you didn’t want to, just because of them. They don’t want to be stopping you from being happy, Louis. If you show them it’s what you need, they will understand and they will want to help you.’

 

‘You think so?’

 

‘Yes, definitely.’ Harry smiled, ‘now tell me more about what you were thinking.’

 

And Louis did. They talked for hours, until Olivia finally called them, asking where the hell they were, and they were dragged back to the ‘now’. 

 

***

 

Goodbyes were hard, especially since Harry was a massive crier and the whole thing was so emotional. They all joked that his eyes will probably be all red and swollen for all of next week if he didn’t stop, but he just couldn’t help himself. He would miss them all so much, he knew that. 

 

The past six weeks have changed him so much. When he got on the plane in London to come over to LA, he could never have even began to imagine just how life-changing his experience would be. His mum talked him into the whole thing to finally make him “come out of his shell” and open himself up to people and opportunities, to find himself more, but he never expected that he would meet some of his best friends there. 

 

They’ve all made him realise so much about himself too. Sophia, in particular. Apart from Louis, she was the one he had spent the most time with, and helping her out with costume designing and making made him realise just how into fashion and design he was. He even decided to change his A-level choices because of it. Goodbye Law and hello Textiles. 

 

He loved them all so much, but most of all—

 

‘Lou,’ he said almost inaudibly, as Louis stopped in front of the Jenners’ house later that night.

 

‘Yeah?’ Louis asked, just as quietly. It was dark and the engine was off, and it felt like it was just them two in the whole world.

 

‘There’s just something that I really need to say,’ Harry said, ‘that I need you to know. I was holding it back, because I thought it was unfair to say it when I’m about to leave, but I just—‘

 

‘What is it, Harry?’ Louis asked, placing his hand on Harry’s thigh, both reassuring and encouraging.

 

‘I love you,’ Harry said and it felt so good, so extremely uplifting to say.

 

Louis eyebrows shot up for a second in surprise, before his whole face lit up, a grin spreading all over his face.

 

‘I love you too,’ he said, ending it with a little, happy giggle, ‘Really, I’m so glad you came into my life, Harry, you can’t even imagine. You made me feel like things that were always just these abstract ideas in my mind, could actually be true, and I could not be more thankful.’

 

Harry smiled back, before leaning closer to Louis, cupping his cheek in his hand.

 

‘Will you come and help me pack tomorrow?’ Harry asked, ‘and drive me to the airport? And Skype me as soon as I get home in England?’

 

‘Definitely,’ Louis chuckled.

 

Then Harry moved even closer, their lips meeting, kissing sweetly.

 

Once they broke apart, both with gleaming, happy eyes, Louis sighed.

 

‘Wish me luck, though.’ he said, worry appearing on his face.

 

‘What for?’ Harry asked, frowning slightly.

 

‘Well, I’m gonna have to have a pretty difficult conversation with my mum about— well, everything.’ he said, biting down on his lip.

 

‘Hey,’ Harry said, squeezing Louis’ hand, ‘don’t worry about it. It’s a good thing. It’s all going to be okay, I’m sure of it.’

 

‘Yeah?’ Louis looked at him, eyes hopeful.

 

‘Yeah.’ Harry nodded.

 

They kissed one more time, before Harry finally climbed out of the car and said a happy, ‘see you tomorrow.’

 

And the thing is, even though they were going their separate ways so soon, they really were happy, and it really was all okay. Even the painful, tear-filled ‘goodbye’s at the airport were okay, because they both knew that this was not the end. It was just the beginning. 

 

And they knew they could make it.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


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